integrity and use

[Lillady]

Spells for others should be cast with that person's permission, but if not able to no harm should be meant towards them. Binding and Banishing spells are good for preventing harm. I believe people tend to think that when you bind or banish someone it is harming them, but in all reality it is binding or banishing them from doing any harm to themselves or others, depending on the nature of the spell.

[loona wynd]

Spells for others should be cast with that person's permission, but if not able to no harm should be meant towards them. Binding and Banishing spells are good for preventing harm. I believe people tend to think that when you bind or banish someone it is harming them, but in all reality it is binding or banishing them from doing any harm to themselves or others, depending on the nature of the spell.

I agree. Some one dear to me was dealing with a lot of sickness. Her ex-husband (first marriage) and her are together and he was very sick at one time several years ago. I asked if he would be ok with a healing spell or ritual. He doesn't believe in or approve of prayer so the answer was no, but she said go ahead any way. I didn't do the spell because he would not have agreed to it.

[Xiao Rong]

You can find an earlier discussion of Healings without Permissions here as well.

I think lots of people, upon first discovering spells and stuff, let the power get to their head, believing that they have power over their love lives, the power to ruin the lives of their enemies, etc. It's compounded by the fact that witchcraft has previously been the means of choice for people who lack power, and, as you said, Rezam, the anonymity makes that power seem even more absolute (and of course, there's the whole question of spells backfiring or not working the way you intend to, etc., but I won't get into that here). Personally, I think one would do just fine to apply their mundane code of ethics to magical workings as well. I don't see how slashing someone's tires in the middle of the night is ethically different from hexing them. I think the same applies for healing magic as well - I would feel just as uneasy about doing a healing spell without their permission as I would about crushing up aspirin and slipping it into their food without their knowledge and consent.

I also want to add that there are three kinds of power: Power Over, Power Within, and Power With. The first, Power Over, is the most commonly recognized form of power, but it also lends itself easily to coercion, force, intimidation, discrimination, or abuse. This is what a lot of people want from magic, but I personally believe that it's probably the hardest one to do, magically, most likely to backfire, and the least ethical. But magic that brings out the Power Within oneself, or to enable Power With others to work cooperatively and give everyone power, is often overlooked, but I think the most potent, because it's energetically easier to work with others when they give you consent and because it can lead to the most intense and radical transformations.

[Kat]

power over isn't ethical at all I believe. probably coz newbies don't know about ethics or have any. their spells sure backfire but they think it's coincidental.

[Xiao Rong]

Kat, I don't think Power Over is always unethical; for example, if a child was about to run into a busy street and her mom needs to yank her back, that's Power Over too. Or, for a magical example (although I'm sure some will disagree with me about this), it is not unethical to bind someone if they've been hurting you and you're exercising magical self-defense.

But you are right in that Power Over has the greatest potential for abuse, and novices to the Craft often mistake Power Over for Power Within. By that I mean, they see spells as a way of asserting their power within the world to make their lives easier by attempting to control their environment (e.g. make an ex-lover come back to them), without realizing that, 1) By trying to change the world around them, they are imposing their will onto others without their consent, and 2) true Power Within is about evoking deep transformations within the self first and foremost, not about controlling their environment.

[Kat]

In my opinion one must first control him/herself,the urges, meditate a lot, keep body and mind healthy before any attempt to manipulate the environment. kind of what u said about deep transformations within the self first with a more controlling tone. I mean those deep transformations don't just happen on their own by accident; one must act consciously and want to be better.

[Xiao Rong]

I will say with self transformation that there are limits. One could transform more than needed or become masochist.

Can you explain what you mean by this? By self-transformation, I was thinking about the kind of self-empowerment that gives you the strength to go into the world and bring about change for oneself and others in a positive way (so in many ways Power Within overlaps with Power With). It reminds me of the quote, "God(dess) grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." I think with all magic, there are of course limitations. It's impossible to fully control the world we live in, but you have somewhat more control over the kind of person you choose to be. We are co-creators of the universe.

[Isis3Anubis]

Long ago, as a love sick teenager, I did not know of Wicca and my friend brought over a book of love spells. We as a group experimented, and all our spells backfired in some way. I thought magick was evil for awhile because that type of magick was grey at best, but I was ignorant. I found Wicca years later and White magick. I wish I had known previously about the ethics of spells and the karma of sending out energy only to return 3 fold.
I never blame the ignorant who experiment mostly because they are misled by some books, movies, ect. I only think the universe judges those who misuse magick and that judging others is a form of sending out negative energy, the best you can do is educate yourself and others not to be destructive as it come back to you or others you love.
Modern Magick by Donald Michael Kraig suggests doing tarot or other divination to ask if doing magick for a situation is good are bad. He suggests that it helps prevent the magician from crossing the line from white to black magick. I think you can also ask your spirit guides in meditation as to whether a spell will be beneficial or if it will backfire in some way.
I have had many spells cast with good intentions but negative results even with the intention of An It Harm None. You learn or burn. Some people learn faster than others, and some take longer to learn because of denial or fear.

[YanaKhan]

I believe that magick is always a change. And not always for good. After all, even healing is not always for the best as the sickness you are trying to remove could be a karmic lesson the other one is supposed to learn and you are messing with it. This doesn't mean you are not to do any magick at all, just to be cautious and never mean any harm when doing spells or rituals. Divining if magick should be done is a very good idea.
From my experience, if something is not meant to happen, the spells don't work. But they could also backfire badly.
As for binding spells, I also consider them to be a self defense when done to protect, not to harm. After all, some people are if not truly evil, bad enough to cause a lot of trouble, sometimes for the tiniest reason or for no reason at all. You should be able to defend yourself against those.